Raleigh, N.C. — North Carolina would concentrate more money on big-ticket transportation projects like bridges, new road links and upgrading rail lines under a transportation plan rolled out Thursday by Gov. Pat McCrory and endorsed by top legislative leaders.

If adopted, the plan will scrap the current road funding scheme that evenly divides construction money across 14 districts and shift money away from secondary road maintenance in order to plow more funding into new construction.

"Everybody sort of had their share across the state, and now what we've got is a way to prioritize projects based upon need, regardless of where it is in the state," Transportation Secretary Tony Tata said. "The priority becomes ensuring we're addressing the greatest needs."

Tata dubbed the new funding scheme the "strategic mobility formula." Under the plan, leaders in the state's 14 transportation divisions would have control over only roughly 20 percent of the state's road building dollars. The remainder of the funds would be split between projects deemed to be of high statewide importance and those of importance to regional areas.

Selection of those larger projects will be primarily data-driven and not based on politics, Tata said.

Changing the formula will let state leaders better take into account how roads my help attract businesses to or keep big industrial players in North Carolina.

"We're including things in our decision making process that haven't been part of it, including economic development and jobs," McCrory said. "We've had the same distribution formula since 1988. It's the year 2013, maybe it's time to give it a new look."

The plan does not raise any new money to pay for transportation needs.

"The funding of projects is the second half of the discussion," Tata said.

Building more roads with the same money

Despite not raising any more money, Tata and McCrory claim the new funding plan would build more roads and create more jobs. Summaries handed out by the state Department of Transportation said the agency anticipates building 260 projects, creating more than 240,000 jobs over the next 10 years.

Both Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and House Speaker Thom Tillis gave their blessing the funding reorganization Thursday, a sign that legislative leaders are likely to give McCrory the authority for which he's asking.

"The House stands ready to move whatever legislation is necessary," said Tillis, R-Mecklenburg.

For years, lawmakers used the equity formula to ensure road projects, and the projects they brought, were evenly salted throughout a variety of legislative districts. Many saw this as a boon to rural areas at the expense of major urban centers.

Berger, R-Rockingham, said that shifting the funding formulas would allow big loop projects that move a lot of people and relieve congestion to be built more quickly.

However, Berger, Tata and others were reluctant to outline winners and losers. Rather, they said, the new plan would help connect all areas of the state, including rural areas that now are disconnected from nearby urban centers.

"What I want to do is connect metropolitan areas with small towns so small towns have a chance to get out of this recession," McCrory said.

Berger pointed to the Interstate 85 bridge over the Yadkin River in Davidson County as a project of statewide importance that had trouble getting funding under the existing equity formula for road funding.

"That was something that everybody agreed needed to be done," he said.

Ultimately, Gov. Bev Perdue and lawmakers had to create a "mobility fund" to work around the existing funding formula process.

Tata said the new strategic mobility formula would allow those expensive, high-priority projects to get done sooner. It would also allow the state to think about building ambitious new projects. For example, he said he has spoken with business leaders and other government officials about building a high-speed road link between Raleigh and the Hampton Roads area in southeast Virginia. Under current funding formulas, that project would be all but impossible to contemplate.

"(We need to) have some connectivity that connects regions, that connects North Carolina with even parts of other states," McCrory said. "This is part of our economic development plan."

The plan doesn't address the state's revenue streams for road projects, such as the gas tax.

"First you have to figure out how you are using existing dollars, and we think there's a better way to do it," McCrory said.

The plan won praise from the North Carolina Chamber, with President Lew Ebert saying adequate infrastructure is key to the state's future economic growth.

"Our state has many unfunded and underfunded transportation challenges," Ebert said in a statement. "Failure to address these will have a detrimental and long-lasting impact on the state’s economy, as well as its ability to retain current investments and attract new jobs, new investment and expansions."

Money shifted from maintenance

In order to shift more money into construction projects, the strategic mobility formula shifts about $120 million away from secondary road repairs and taps other pots of money set aside for smaller projects, for an additional $200 million that will be plowed into new projects.

Tata emphasized that state's secondary repair program would still be in effect. However, instead of prioritizing projects by county, repairs would be allotted on a statewide basis.

"Divisions had money they had to spend, so they would say, perhaps, 'OK, let's do X road.' Well, maybe X road didn't need it for three more years to be resurfaced," he said. "We have to be more efficient.

Tata also insisted that the new approach would not affect the money cities get from the state under what's known as the Powell Bill. However, according to a summary of the plan from the department, the McCrory plan would shift how that money is handled.

Under the plan, there would be a two-year phase in, with projects already on the books moving forward. For example, Tata said he doesn't expect the repaving of Interstates 40 and 440 in Wake County will be delayed.

Asked about how this might affect long-sought repairs on Interstate 95, he said the new funding plan could focus more state resources on that area. But he would not comment on how the new model might impact the potential for placing tolls on the interstate.

Copyright 2013 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

RustyDawgApr 19, 2013

Get the cell phones out of the drivers hands! People have trouble driving properly to start off with. I see near misses daily because someone is playing with their phone. Do we really "need" to be on a phone while driving?

killerkestrelApr 19, 2013

Folks need to remember that a four lane divided road costs three times more in urban areas than rural areas. Why? Because of property values and interchanges. Property can be as low ast $5,000 an acre in many rural areas while it can be over $500,000 in urban areas. Also, urban interchanges are a mile or two apart and more complex, while rural ones can be 10 miles apart! So property costs 10x more and you have 4x more interchanges in urban areas.

killerkestrelApr 19, 2013

There is already a high speed (mostly) road between Raleigh and Hampton Roads. It is four lane divided most of the way, except for a section around Suffolk where it drops to 35-45. Otherwise, most of it is 55-70 in Virginia, and all of it 65-70 in NC.

killerkestrelApr 19, 2013

Tata stood up, and said the problem is there are more demands, but funding is declining. Then he said that they were not going to dodge the problem and that they were going to finally fix it. Then they spent the rest of the announcement saying how they are dodging the funding problem. Congestion is a problem in urban areas, access is a problem in rural areas. Also, think of all the people who drive through rural areas to get to populated areas (VA to SC, cities to beach, etc). To take maintenance money and spend it on construction is a bad idea. Why spend money to remodel the bathroom when the roof leaks? The resurfacing budget provides enough money to resurface primary roads every 50 years, and secondary roads every 70 years! If all the money was put into maintenance, we just might have enough to maintain what we have. Bridges at the beach cost a lot, but you have to cross the inlet. Ferrys cost a lot too. You need to be cost effective, but sometimes there is no alternative.

WirklichApr 19, 2013

"he said he has spoken with business leaders and other government officials about building a high-speed road link between Raleigh and the Hampton Roads area in southeast Virginia."

This might be a good idea, but, if funds are so stretched for other priority needs on existing highways, why are they even considering this?

unc70Apr 18, 2013

Toll roads distort useage patterns, as noted regarding our state's only example. We should invest wisely and make that investment available to all as quickly and efficiently as possible. In NC, we didn't charge our citizens to use the roads they collectively own. And rural roads were paved using the same rules in the poorest rural county and in the wealthiest urban ones. We took care of each other, and the next generation. One of the major factors in which roads are paved is whether school buses travel the road.

I remember when Gov Kerr Scott got NC out of the mud. It had been five miles to a paved road.

BTW the State took over the county roads in the 1930's after most of the counties went into bankruptcy bearing those costs.

miseemApr 18, 2013

Despite not raising any more money, Tata and McCrory claim the new funding plan would build more roads and create more jobs. Summaries handed out by the state Department of Transportation said the agency anticipates building 260 projects, creating more than 240,000 jobs over the next 10 years.

I'd like to see the math on that one. No additional money, but adding 26 big projects per year and 24,000 more jobs per year? What are they planning on doing - selling all the bulldozers and replacing them with guys with shovels?Oh, and as achitect noted, NC has about the highest state maintained road network in the country. Anyone ever think that could be why our gas tax is higher? A mile of road in SC costs as much to build as a road in NC. In SC, cities and counties have to build and maintain more roads than in NC. Guess where that money comes from? Local taxes. No free lunch, no free roads. Got to get the money somewhere be it city or county assessments or state gas tax.

disgusted2010Apr 18, 2013

This is what happens when our governor puts out of state people in key jobs. They have no idea where money is actually needed. One good thing about it messing with highway money will get McCrory defeated in three years.

Dazd N ConfusedApr 18, 2013

I think it's funny that we have to argue about this, when other states in the nation have only the State/US Highways and Interstates maintained by their DOTs. But in NC we're better than that... we have roads that have 1 or 2 houses on them paved for miles.

Ever been to any of these areas of NC? I have, and saw the nice sign that says "State Maintenance Ends Here" then it turns into a dirt road.

Highways are considered any road maintained by the State, doesn't matter if it is 2-lane, 4-lane, or more... it's still a highway. So yes, NC has the second amount of miles of road maintained by the STATE Government (next to Texas, which for the uneducated among you is a lot larger than NC). If these areas want the roads, then pay for them. I'm sick of paying for roads that maybe are used by 1000/cars a year. Why do I pay higher taxes? I have a small home in the City, not a large house with acres of land. Your house is worth more than mine, but I pay more in taxes property and INCOME.

architectApr 18, 2013

TEXAS AND NC have two largest "state maintained" networks.

Total lane miles of other states are divided between cities, counties and states.